Christopher Columbus was actually a Scotsman called Pedro Scotto

London, March 9 (ANI): A Spanish historian has claimed that Christopher Columbus, who opened up the American continents to Europe, was actually called Pedro Scotto, and his family originally hailed from Scotland.

According to a report in Telegraph, this claim, made by Alfonso Ensenat de Villalonga, has disputed conventionally accepted narratives on the explorer's origins - that he was the son of a weaver in Genoa, Italy, or that he was from Catalonia or Galicia in Spain.

"In fact, he was from Genoa, but he was the son of shopkeepers not weavers and he was baptised Pedro not Christopher," said Villalonga.

His family name was Scotto, and was not Italian, but of Scottish origin, Villalonga added.

"He had light-coloured eyes and freckles. He also had blond hair even though it quickly turned white. That's how his contemporaries described him. Nothing like the traditional images (of him), which are totally invented," the historian said.

Villalonga cited a chronicle of Catholic kings written by Lucio Marineo Siculo, who referred in his writings to "Pedro Columbus", not Christopher.

The historian has also claimed that the navigator once worked for a pirate called Vincenzo Columbus, and adopted that family name in order not to "expose" his relations.

According to Villalonga, his research involved combing the archives in the Genoa region along with those in the Spanish history academy and national library. (ANI)